Two places · one area scale

How big is California compared to Texas?

How big is California compared to Texas? Compare cited land area and population, see real outlines at a shared area scale, and inspect calculated population density.

Texas has 1.68× the land area of California. California has 1.24× the listed population of Texas. Density is calculated from the cited figures.

Shared land-area scaleEqual Earth projection
California and Texas compared by land areaCalifornia and Texas are drawn on the same area scale. The smaller outline remains proportionally smaller. The two outlines are side by side and are not independently resized.
Actual boundaries, centered independently; outline area remains proportional between places.

The figures behind the map

Land area, population and calculated density

At a glance

Compare the figures

Each bar starts at zero. The longest bar is the highest value shown for that measure, not a rating.

Land areakm²
  1. California403,677 km²
  2. Texas676,659 km²
Populationpeople
  1. California39,355,309
  2. Texas31,709,821
Population densitypeople/km² · calculated
  1. California97 people/km²
  2. Texas47 people/km²

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Land area, population, and calculated density for California and Texas. Each colored bar is proportional to the larger value in its row.
MeasureCaliforniaTexas
Land area155,860 sq miU.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer Files · 2026261,259 sq miU.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer Files · 2026
Population39,355,309 peopleU.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program · 202531,709,821 peopleU.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program · 2025
Calculated density97 people/km²Calculated from the values above47 people/km²Calculated from the values above

Density is calculated as population ÷ land area converted to km². Source years are shown separately; the calculation may combine different years.

Calculated from the cited values

Land area, population and density differences

The land-area gap is about 1.02 × Colorado's land area (272,982 km², calculated).

California has 1.24× the listed population of Texas.

California has 2.08× the calculated population density of Texas.

Land area is shown in km² in the charts so the bars use the same unit.